Thanks to all the rain we’ve had this winter, the hills are still gloriously green, just the time for a drive. As you pass through Tilden Park at the top of the East Bay hills, in the spring you’ll see yellow wild mustard flowers in bloom.

One of my favorite outings with Earl—driving to Drake's Beach in his MGB. Sir Francis Drake Blvd. takes you through varied terrains: rolling hills and redwood forest, past streams and ponds, as well as the Nicasio Reservoir and Tomales Bay. In a haunting, isolated...

Yesterday I was feeling so restless I decided to take a long drive to a place I knew few people would be. After days of grayness and rain, the sky was clear and bright—an irresistible invitation to visit the spring hills before they turn dun and dry. As I approached...

In the last miles before Drake’s Beach, I once climbed under the barbed-wire fence in this photo (taken yesterday) and hiked out to the dune in the distance with my camera.The field was treacherously lumpy—with holes and clumps of brush that twisted my ankles—but...

My friend Betsy, from my Artist's Way group, had a cabin in Inverness and invited a few of us up on several occasions. On one visit we hiked to Abbotts Lagoon.